Vouchers at the ready for best of books 2024

Readers looking to use up some of those book vouchers collected over the Christmas will be spoiled for choice this year, as Michael Moynihan lists some goodies for 2024

Jan Carson will release 'Quickly, While They Still Have Horses',  a book of short stories in April

Serpent’S Tail have some good ones in the pipeline — novel Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire and You Spin Me Round, a collection of essays on music with contributions by the likes of Ciaran Carson, Brian Dillon and Wendy Erskine (edited by Adrian Duncan, Niamh Dunphy, Nathan O’Donnell) are both out in February.

New Island publishes Seaborne by Nuala O’Connor in April, a novel ranging from Kinsale to South Carolina to Jamaica, while the following month Lilliput will issue Ravelling by Estelle Birdy, a novel set in Dublin’s Liberties.

Early appearance — Colin Barrett’s much-anticipated first novel Wild Houses (Jonathan Cape) is out this month, a tale of a small-town kidnapping and Girl in the Making by Anna Fitzgerald (Sandycove) in March.

The following month fans of Jan Carson have Quickly, While They Still Have Horses, a book of short stories, as the perfect introduction for readers new to her work (Penguin Ireland, April).

Word of mouth is strong for Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney (Weidenfeld and Nicolson) this month, while RTÉ’s Rachael English is on a winner again with Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy? (Hachette Books Ireland, February).

Other winning fiction reads on the way include Edel Coffey of this parish with In Her Place (Sphere, March ), Patricia Gibney’s Little Bones (February, Sphere), the ever-popular Sheila O’Flangan with The Honeymoon Affair (Headline Review, April), John Connolly’s The Instruments of Darkness: A Charlie Parker Thriller (Hodder & Stoughton, May) and Jo Spain’s The Trial (Quercus, June).

The outstanding Rónán Hession has a new novel on the way in May — Ghost Mountain (Bluemoose). Other Irish novels popping up in the new year include The Playdate by Clara Dillon (Sandycove, February), when the eponymous playdate in Dublin goes wrong, as well as Sarah Crossan with Where The Heart Should Be in May, a novel set during the Great Hunger (Bloomsbury). 

Colm McCann returns to the shelves with a slightly different book in 'American Mother'. Picture: Moya Nolan

Colm McCann returns to the shelves with a slightly different book — in American Mother (Bloomsbury, ) he tells the story of the murdered American journalist, James Foley, by telling the story of James’ mother, Diane, co-author of the book.

In May perennial favourite John Boyne has a new novel, Earth (Doubleday), about a young man working as a male escort before becoming a professional footballer. Marian Keyes will return also with My Favourite Mistake (Michael Joseph).

Poetry lovers have Paul Muldoon’s Joy in Service on Rue Tagore to look forward to in April (Faber), his 15th single collection, while in a similar vein Theo Dorgan’s memoir, Once Was A Boy (Dedalus), may already be in the shops.

Fans of John Banville’s detective series have The Drowned coming up in October (Faber), but before that Sam Blake’s many fans have Something’s About To Blow Up (Gill, May) to look forward to.

Harper Collins has a very strong line-up for this year, including A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey (March, HarperFiction), Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson (April, 4th Estate), Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna (May, 4th Estate), and The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley (June, HarperFiction).

Later in the year there will be keen interest in Godwin by Joseph O’Neill (June, 4th Estate), a long-anticipated return, while the always-impressive Kevin Barry’s first novel in several years, The Heart in Winter, is expected in July (Canongate).

John Boyne's new novel 'Earth' is due for release in May. Picture: Moya Nolan

One of the most eagerly-anticipated books of the year must surely be Long Island, the sequel to Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín. Brooklyn was a global best-seller and a successful movie with Saoirse Ronan, so expect this to dominate the sales charts when it comes out in May (Pan MacMillan).

In terms of non-Irish fiction, Andrew O’Hagan’s Caledonian Road (Faber, April) has huge advance buzz, as does Rachel Cusk’s Parade (Faber, June) and Banana Yoshimoto’s Dead End Memories, (Faber, August).

Also in August, David Peace’s Munichs (Faber, August) looks at Manchester United after the Munich air disaster in novel form. There will be keen interest in Sarah Perry’s Enlightenment, due out in May, while Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz (April) is sure to be a big seller.

There’s no need to wait that long, however — far earlier in the year, Kiley Reid, author of Such A Fun Age is back with a campus novel Come and Get It (January, Bloomsbury), David Nicholls’s new novel, You Are Here, is due in April (Sphere), and fans of Maria Callas will find much to enjoy in Diva by Daisy Goodwin, a novel based on the singer’s life (MacMillan, March).

This month Michael Cunningham has a new novel, Day (4th Estate), which will surely enthral fans of The Hours, while another long-standing pillar of the bestseller lists returns in May.

Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin (Doubleday) is the 10th instalment of the beloved ‘Tales of the City’ series.

NON-FICTION

In an already crowded non-fiction field some interesting possibilities include Knife Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie (Penguin April), in which the writer muses on his near-death experience; On The Edge: How Successful Gamblers and Risk-Takers think, by The Signal And The Noise author Nate Silver (Penguin, June) will probably appeal to another constituency altogether.

For a good start to the year later this month Blood: The Science, Medicine and Mythology of Menstruation by Dr Jennifer Gunter will hit the shelves (Piatkus); Gunter’s track record in this area should ensure a riveting and informative read.

Another early entrant which will grab Irish readers is Missing Persons, Or My Grandmother’s Secrets by Clair Wills (Allen Lane), about a cousin she never knew she had who was born in a Mother and Baby Home. Another eye-catching title is Four Shots in the Night by Henry Hemming (Quercus, March), the story of how the death of a spy in the IRA led to the biggest murder investigation in British history.

In a far lighter vein try Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood by Ed Zwick (February, Gallery).

It’s a revealing look at show business from the man who discovered Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Denzel Washington.

If you’re buying for someone who is a dad-history fan there’s a very obvious option — Operation Biting by the great Max Hastings, which details a Second World War commando raid in all the detail a dad-history fan would want.

A personal choice, The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing (Picador, May) should be well worth the wait, as Laing takes on the history of the garden.

If you enjoyed last year’s publishing hit, Spare, you might enjoy A Very Private School by Charles Spencer (William Collins) — yes, that Charles Spencer, brother of Princess Diana. I present it as an option because nothing human is alien to me.